Chapter 49: The New Watch
The first days of Aurora's life were not measured in hours, but in breaths, in tiny, rooting mouths, in the soft, milky scent that permeated the cottage like a new kind of magic.
The world outside the door ceased to exist. There was only the cocoon of the hearth, the nest of their bed, and the mesmerizing, infinite study of the new soul they had just welcomed into the world.
Elara existed in a state of exhausted, radiant awe. Her body, which had been a vessel of such tremendous power, now felt hollowed out and fragile, yet thrumming with a fierce, animal love. The ink-magic within her was quiet, deeply depleted, but in its place was a biological, primal current the let-down of milk, the instinct to curl around her baby, the ability to sleep for ten minutes and wake with senses razor-sharp.
